Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Y'know, it's been a joke for as long there've been VCRs that they are hard to program. A standard joke is that a person can't even figure out how to make the clock stop blinking 12:oo. And taping one show while watching another is supposed to be nearly impossible. Maybe this was true in the 1980's when the devices were new and all the bugs had yet to be worked out of the technology, but now if an anachronism such as myself can do it, then anyone should be able to.And tonight, I shall, in fact, be taping one show whilst watching another, as the 2005 World Series of Poker is on opposite Big Brother 6. I'll watch BB and tape WSOP, so that I can study the tape and learn how to become a better poker player. And maybe I'll be able to spot the total unknown who's going to come out of left field to win the Main Event, in the tradition of last year's winner Greg Raymer and 2003's Chris Moneymaker, who walked into a casino for the first time in his life and walked out with 2.5 million dollars.One note on BB: BB3's Marsalis remains, three years after leaving the BB house, one of the most popular houseguests ever to contend for the half million dollar prize. I am wondering if the producers, in casting this year's houseguests, made a conscious decision to try and duplicate Marsalis' popularity by casting Beau: another bald, black gay man.Anyway, I'll have further things to say about both contests later in the week.